Oil vapor pump



J y 1951 K. c. D. HICKMAN ET AL OIL VAPOR PUMP Filed June 4, 1948 8GEORGE AKUIPERS IN V EN TORS n m T T V A KENNETH G D HIOKMAN M I MPatented July 17, 1951 OIL VAPOR PUMP Kenneth C. D. Hickman and GeorgeA. Kuipers,

Rochester, N. Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Eastman KodakCompany, Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application June4, 1948, Serial No. 31,074 8 Claims. (Cl. v230-101 Thi invention relatesto a jet type oil vapor pump.

It is an object of this invention to provide simple, economical, andeflicient constructions in oil vapor pumps. Another object is to providefor ready disassembly and reassembly of such pumps to facilitatecleaning. A further object is to provide an oil vapor pump in which theboiler is located at the top of the pump. Another object is to providean oil vapor pump in which the jet and diffuser assembly is integralwith the top late and removable therewith. A still further object is toprovide an ,oil vapor pump in which the jet and diffuser assembly areeasily accessible for cleaning. A further object is to provide an oilvapor pump of a character suitable for construction in large size andcapacity. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

These and other objects are accomplished 'by this invention which, in apreferred embodiment, comprises a casing, a boiler above the top of thecasing and attached thereto by a vapor tube leading through the topplate into the interior of the casing, a jet or jets attached to thevapor tube and a diffuser arranged to operate in conjunction with eachjet, the entire vapor tube-jet-diffuser assembly being rigidly attachedto, and depending from, the top plate of the pump. The manner in whichthe various objects are attained will be more apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingand appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, the single figure is a partial sectionalview of an apparatus embodying the present invention in a preferred Itconsists of member l2 which is attached to casing It in a gas-tightmanner. Member l2 may be welded to casing IE or may be attached theretoby a flange arrangement. At the top of easing l top plate 18 forms agas-tight connection with flange 2!! of casing l0. Boiler 22 is locatedabove casing l0 and is substantially concentric therewith. Boiler 22 isattached to top plate l8 by member 19. Vapor tube 24 passes from a pointnear the top of the interior of 2 boiler 22 through the bottom of boiler22 and through member [9 and top plate l8 to the interior of pump casing16. Boiler 22 is lagged with insulating material 26 to prevent the lossof heat. The pump fluid in boiler 22 is heated by resistance element 28which has leads 30 which may be connected to a source of current.Annular baffle 32 is attached to the top of vapor tube 24 and serves tominimize the entrainment of pump liquid with pump vapor during theoperation of the pump. Member 34 is attached .to the top of boiler 22and serves as a convenient atttachment for moving the pump or forlifting out the interior mechanism of the pump in the course of cleaningoperations.

Vapor tube 24 is rigidly attached to the bottom of boiler 22. Jets 36and 38 are attached to vapor tube 24, jet 36 being attached at a pointnear top .plate 18 and jet 38 being attached at the terminus of vaportube 24. The vapors which pass through jet 36 leave vapor tube 24through aperture 49 and those which pass through jet 38 emerge from thebottom of vapor tube 24.

Diffusers 42 and 44 operate in conjunction with jets 36 and 38,respectively. Diff-user '42 is attached to annular skirt 46 which isconnected to diffuser 42 in a gas-tight manner. Annular skirt 43 isattached to vapor tube 24 and operates in conjunction with difiuser 42to guide the pump vapors during operation. Annular skirt 45 is held inposition by strut means 45 extending downward from top plate 18.Circular angle member 48 is attached to casing l0 to form trough 50.Annular skirt 4% extends downward into trough 50 to form a fluid sealwhen the pump is placed in operation.

Difluser 44 is held in position by annular skirt 52 in a manner similarto the arrangement of diffuser 42 and annular skirt 46. Annular skirt 52extends downward into trough 54 formed by circular angle member 56 andthis arrangement forms a fluid seal in a manner similar to the fluidseal formed by annular skirt 46 and trough 5i]. Annular skirt 52 issupported by struts 58 which extend downward from annular skirt 4E.Troughs 5E! and 54 are arranged in nesting order, the diameter ofannular skirt 52 being less than the diameter across circular anglemember 48 so that annular skirt 52 may be removed with top plate I3without coming into contact with circular angle member 48. Diffusers 42and 44 are cooled by liquid introduced into cooling coil 60 at opening62 and which is withdrawn through opening 64. Casing It] may also becooled by liquid introduced into cooling coil 66 through opening 63 andwithdrawn through opening 10. Condensed pump fluid collects at thebottom of the pump and is returned to the boiler through conduit 12 andpump 14. Conduit 12 includes union 16 which may be disconnected when theinterior mechanism of the pump is removed from casing II].

It may be seen that the jets, diffusers and annular skirts are allattached to top plate 18 which is in turn attached to lifting member 34by means of member l9 and boiler 22. Thus, when it is necessary to cleanout the interior of pump casing In, it is only necessary to disconnectconduit 12 at union 16, release the flange bolts holding top plate l8 toflange 20, and hoist the entire boiler-vapor tube-top plate-jet-difiuserassembly in a single operation.

In operating the pump illustrated in the figure, flange I4 is connectedto the apparatus which it is desired to evacuate and flange I6 isconnected to a backing pump of suitable capacity. After the backing pumphas been placed in operation, heating element 28 is turned on and pumpfluid in boiler 22 begins to boil. Vapors pass around baiile 32 and downvapor tube 24 into casing ID. A portion of the vapors pass throughaperture 40 and jet 36 where they entrain gases passing through highvacuum conduit 18. Bafiies T! in conduit 18 prevent the passage ofcondensable fluids between the distillation apparatus and pump. Some ofthe pump fluid vapors are condensed on difiuser 42 and follow on toannular skirt 52, from which they flow into trough 54. From trough 54they eventually overflow and collect at the bottom of easing ID.

The vapors which have not passed through aperture 40 emerge from thebottom of vapor tube 24 and pass through jet 38. Here they entrain someof the gases previously entrained by vapors passing through jet 36 andwhich are now at a slightly higher pressure than they were at the timeof entrainment by vapors from jet 36. Most of the pump fluid vapors arecondensed on the cool walls of difiuser 44 and the non-condensable gasesare drawn oil by the backing pump connected to flange l6. Pump vaporswhich have not already condensed are condensed on the cool walls ofcasing I0. Condensed pump fluid which has collected at the bottom ofeasing I is now drawn through conduit 12 by pump 14 and returned toboiler 22 to complete the cycle.

Member I9 is in metal-to-metal contact with the base of boiler 22 andquickly becomes hot by conduction when the pump is in operation. Inorder to utilize the heat in member i9 pump fluid return conduit 12 isrun around member I 9 and the returning pump fluid is thereby warmed. Bythus heating the pump fluid before it enters the boiler the efl'iciencyof the unit is increased.

During operation of the pump troughs 50 and 54 quickly fill up withcondensed pump vapor which prevents vapors from backing up. Thesetroughs act to isolate compartments and the construction disclosed bythis invention achieves this isolation without resorting to costlymachining operations. Thus the pump is simple, efiicient and may befabricated without high proe duction cost.

For purposes of illustration, a two stage pump has been shown anddescribed but the principles of the invention are equally applicable toa single stage pump or to multi-stage pumps having more than two stages.

ill

While the invention has been described in considerable detail withreference to certain preferred structures, procedures, and materials, itwill be understood that modifications and variations therein may beeffected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asit is defined by the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. An oil vapor pump comprising in combination a vertical casing,gas-tight closure means at the top and bottom of said casing, an inletport in said casing for gases being pumped, an outlet port in saidcasing spaced from said inlet port, boiler means generally verticallyabove said casing, means for heating said boiler means, a vapor tubeleading from a point near the top of the interior of said boiler meansthrough the top closure means to the interior of said casing, a nozzleconnected to said vapor tube, a diffuser arranged to operate inconjunction with said nozzle, said diffuser being supported from saidtop closure means, means for cooling said diffuser, and pump and conduitmeans for returning fluid from the bottom of said casing to said boilermeans.

2. An oil vapor pump comprising in combination a vertical casing,gas-tight closure means at the top and bottom of said casing, an inletport in an upper zone of said casing, an outlet port in a lower zone ofsaid casing, boiler means generally vertically above said casing, meansfor heating said boiler means, a vapor tube leading from a point nearthe top of the interior of said boiler means through the top closuremeans to the interior of said casing, a plurality of nozzles connectedto said vapor tube, a diffuser for each nozzle, all of said diffusersbeing supported from said top closure means, means for cooling saiddiffusers and pump and conduit means for returning pump fluid from thebottom of said casing to said boiler means.

3. An oil vapor pump comprising in combination a vertical casing,gas-tight closure means at the top and bottom of said casing, an inletport in an upper zone of said casing, an outlet port in a lower zone ofsaid casing, boiler means substantially directly above said casing,means for heating said boiler means, a vapor tube leading from a pointnear the top of the interior of said boiler means through the topclosure means to the interior of said casing, a nozzle connected to saidvapor tube, a diffuser placed to operate in conjunction. with saidnozzle, said diffuser being supported from said top closure means, meansfor cooling said diffuser, said nozzle and said diffuser being rigidlyattached to said vapor tube and said top closure means respectively sothat removal of said top closure means and said vapor tube effects alsothe removal of said nozzle and said diffuser, and pump and conduit meansfor returning fluid from the bottom of said casing to said boiler means.

4. An oil vapor pump comprising in combination a vertical casing,gas-tight closure means at the top and bottom of said casing, an inletport in an upper portion of said casing, an outlet port in a lowerportion of said casing, boiler means substantially directly above saidcasing, means for heating said boiler means, a vapor tube leading from apoint near the top of the interior of said boiler means through the topclosure means to the interior of said casing, a generally cylindricalmetal member encircling said vapor tube and extending between and beingsecured to said boiler means and said top closure means, nozzle meansconnected to said vapor tube, diffuser means placed to operate inconjunction with said nozzle means, said diffuser means being supportedfrom said top closure means, means for cooling said diffuser means, andconduit and pumping means for returning fluid from thebottom of saidcasing to said boiler means, said conduit means making contact with saidmetal member attached to said boiler means in order to utilize wasteheat from said boiler means to raise the temperature of pump fluid whichis about to enter the boiler.

5. A multi-stage oil vapor pump comprising in combination a cylindricalpump casing provided with top and base plates, a boiler placedsubstantially directly above the top of said pump casing and connectedthereto by means of a vapor tube leading from a point near the top ofthe interior of said boiler through said boiler and the top plate ofsaid casing to the interior of said casing, means for heating saidboiler, a plurality of jets attached to said vapor tube, a diffuserarranged in conjunction with each let, each said diffuser beingattached. to, and supported by, the top plate, means for cooling thediiiusers, an annular trough on the interior of said casing oppositeeach diffuser, the distance between walls of said annular troughsdecreasing progressively as distance from the bottom of said casingincreases, an annular skirt integral with each diffuser and extendinginto the annular trough opposite the difi'user, low pressure connectionmeans near the top of said casing, a fore-pump connection means near thebottom of said casing, a fluid-return conduit leading from the bottom ofsaid casing to said boiler, and pumping means in the line of saidfluid-return conduit.

6. An oil vapor pump comprising casing means defining a generallyvertical pump chamber, an upper portion of said casing means beingremovable and forming a closure member for said chamber, spaced-apartinlet and outlet means for said chamber, vapor diffusion pumping meansdisposed in said chamber, boiler means mounted on said closure memberand being disposed generally vertically above said chamber, vaporchanneling means extending from said boiler means downwardly through anupper portion of said chamber and communicating with said diffusionpumping means, said vapor channeling means being arranged to channelvapors from said boiler means to said diffusion pumping means, and fluidreturn means connecting the bottom of said chamber with said boilermeans and being constructed and arranged for returning pump fluid fromthe bottom of said chamber to said boiler means.

'7. An oil vapor'pump comprising in combination a pump casing defining agenerally vertical pump chamber, an upper portion of said pump casingbeing removable and constituting a removable closure member, inlet meanscommunicating with an upper portion of said chamber, outlet meanscommunicating with a lower portion of said chamber, pumping meansdisposed in said chamber and including nozzle and diffuser meansarranged in mutually cooperating relation, boiler means disposedgenerally vertically above said chamber and including boiler heatingmeans, vapor channeling means extending from said boiler meansdownwardly-through said closure member to said nozzle means and being incommunication with said boiler means and said nozzle means, and fluidreturn means, including fluid pumping means, connecting the bottom ofsaid chamber with said boiler means and being constructed and arrangedfor returning pump fluid from the bottom of said chamber to said boilermeans.

8. 'An oil vapor pump comprising in combinatilon a pump casing defininga generally vertical pump chamber, said casing including a removableclosure member at the top of said chamber, an inlet port in an upperportion of said casing, an outlet port in a lower portion of saidcasing, pumping means disposed in said chamber and including nozzle anddiffuser means arranged in mutually cooperating relation, boiler meansdisposed substantially directly above said chamher and including boilerheating means, vapor conduit means in communication with said boilermeans and extending downwardly from said boiler means through saidclosure member into communication with said nozzle means, means formounting said boiler means and vapor conduit means and pumping means asa unit with said closure member for removal therewith, and fluid returnmeans connecting the bottom of said chamber with said boiler means andbeing constructed and arranged for returning pump fluid from saidchamber to said boiler means.

KENNETH C. D. I-IICKMAN. GEORGE A. KUIPERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Stallman June 22, 1948 Numb er

